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The new pavilion would provide a space for outdoor performances
movie screenings
Southampton Village officials gave a green light last week to plans to build a new semi-permanent, open-air, tentlike pavilion on the lawn at 25 Jobs Lane once the Parrish Art Museum vacates the premises.
The Founders Committee, a group Mayor Mark Epley set up to shape the property’s future in the absence of the Parrish, which will open a new building in Water Mill later this year, has been eager to usher in a new cultural hot spot to keep activity buzzing in the village while renovation of the art museum to convert it into a new Southampton Center for the Arts gets under way.
According to Michael Etzel of the Rockwell Group, a Manhattan-based firm that designed the pavilion, the structure would be a multi-functional venue that could accommodate performing arts, movie screenings and even an ice skating rink in the winter. Officials said the structure would be ready for the 2013 summer season.
“This was born out of our discussions with Bay Street Theatre,” Mayor Epley said, referring to ongoing negotiations with the Sag Harbor-based theater that had been considering new locations. “They said in order to do theater here, they would prefer to do it outside instead of inside in the summertime.” The mayor also mentioned that members of “Shakespeare in the Park” and “Jazz at Lincoln Center” expressed the same desire.
The project could cost anywhere from $650,000 to $975,000, Mr. Etzel said, all of which would be raised by the Founders Committee, according to Mayor Epley.
“We’re not asking for any taxpayer dollars to go to this,” he said. “It’s a very realistic number to raise. We’ve received a lot of positive feedback on this.”
The pavilion would sit at the northwest corner of the property and would be built to evoke the three arches of the current Parrish building, as well as the three arches of the Southampton Cultural Center. The arches would be wrapped with a light fabric “skin,” and colored lights would project onto the fabric, Mr. Etzel said. The structure’s translucent top would glow at night, he added.
Depending on the programming, the pavilion’s interior could be reconfigured, but it would accommodate 299 seats inside the circular building, approximately 80 feet in diameter. Village officials said they wanted to make sure the pavilion would not overpower the Southampton Center, to be located in the historic former Parrish building nearby. The highest point of the structure would reach 35 feet.
Members of the public, at the Village Board meeting on Thursday, June 14, questioned the impact the building could have on the community.
Village resident Susan Stevenson raised the issue of whether the noise generated from performances might carry into residential neighborhoods and local restaurants.
Mr. Etzel said it is difficult to know how much of an impact would be made since no programming has been scheduled yet, but said the company plans to bring in an acoustician to find out. Mayor Epley assured Mr. Stevenson that noise would most likely not be a problem. “The center would limit programming times,” Mayor Epley said. “This wouldn’t be something that would have wild music after 11 p.m.”
If the pavilion becomes a problem or the village no longer needs the structure, it could easily be deconstructed or moved, according to Mr. Etzel.
Board Member Richard Yastrzemski voiced support for the pavilion, calling it a “springboard” to get people into the village.
